Today is my first official post as “A Neo-Renaissance Writer.” You may wonder why I changed my blog’s title. Here are a few reasons:
- The protagonists of my fiction writing will be Renaissance people (or polymaths)–characters who have a broad array of talents and interests. As such, I hope to encourage you to discover how well-rounded individuals can survive and prosper in challenging situations.
- I’ll be able to blog about a wide range of topics that interest me and may interest you.
- I feel society has gotten away from training its citizens to be well-rounded individuals. Especially in the workplace, specialization has become the norm. Unfortunately, that limits a person’s marketability in the workforce, and puts them at a disadvantage in new social situations where conversation comes around to topics they’ve never even learned basics in. Examples off the top of my head are: civics, politics, economics, the arts, and philosophy. I hope to broaden your perspective, spark your interest in a new subject, and perhaps teach you something you will find helpful in your life.
Why do I think I’m qualified to call myself a Renaissance Man? First of all, I don’t consider myself a RM in the mold of da Vinci, Jefferson, or Franklin.
I’m just an above-average intelligent man who has studied many subjects and become a “qualified expert” in a few areas. I mentioned those skills in a previous post, so I won’t bore you again. My philosophy is to approach life as a perpetual learning/teaching experience and receive as well as give as much joy and positive energy as possible. Also, I feel we should all be enlightened citizens and be aware of how the world really works in all ways in order to help the species survive (as well as help Earth itself survive). Lastly, learning is just plain FUN (notwithstanding this serious guy, who always impressed me as trying to digest some revolutionary new idea that a friend has just dropped into his brain).
(Photo by Yair Haklai)
I’ll divide future posts into four general categories: Intellectual, Emotional, Physical, Spiritual. Certain posts will cover multiple categories. Golf, for example, is a Physical pursuit, but the Intellectual challenge of playing well is mind-boggling. And don’t get me started on the Spiritual aspects of golf! I know very few serious golfers who on some level don’t acknowledge the existence of “the Golf Gods.” I’ll explain them in a future post about golf.
I’m sure many of you are even more expert in many areas than I am in mine. One thing we can do is start a dialogue about our favorite subjects and interests, and learn from each other. So let’s get started.
My first question in my new blog format is: What are you most interested in/expert at/or desiring to learn about? And why?